The present invention relates to the general domain of crossmembers used in vehicle construction, and more specifically to crossmembers which are mounted to the vehicle body, transverse to the drive direction, to provide means for mounting the dashboard of the vehicle as well as various accessories such as climate control unit, steering column, fuse box, glove compartment, etc.
It is known that crossmembers generally comprise a crossbar made of steel tubing which extends between two mounting flanges securing the bar to the body of the vehicle, and which is usually also supported by a central strut attached to the floor of the vehicle.
Although known crossmembers generally perform satisfactorily, particularly because of their rigidity, they may nevertheless have some drawbacks.
Their fabrication may require particularly heavy, cumbersome and costly tooling, including for instance shear presses and welding machines, as well as stamping presses specially equipped with the necessary punches and dies.
In addition, the relatively heavy weight of known crossmembers complicates their manipulation during assembly and contributes to making the vehicle heavy, negatively affecting the fuel consumption of the vehicle.
Finally, it is often difficult to arrange the crossmember in the proper way in order to avoid the likelihood of resonance phenomena propagating towards the cabin which emanate from engine compartment vibrations or the vehicle body.